Mildred
The story
Mildred is Old English, Mildthryth, joining roots for mild and strength into that lovely given meaning, gentle strength, and it was carried by a seventh-century saint, Mildred of Thanet, an abbess in Kent remembered in the old accounts for her gentleness. Revived by the Victorians along with so many medieval names, it crossed the Atlantic and became a genuine American staple, at its strongest in the opening decades of the twentieth century, when Mildreds filled classrooms and church registers. The fall that followed was long and steep, and by midcentury the name had slipped far out of fashion, though it never entirely left the records. Lately the tide of vintage revival has reached names once thought permanently grandmotherly, and Mildred, with its soft sound and sturdy meaning, has begun to look less like a relic and more like a rediscovery waiting to happen.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Mildred peaked in the 1900s and the 1910s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
211 people · the #24,462 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 49
Among people named Mildred living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1970s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Mildred
Most people given the name Mildred in the United States were born between 1940 and 1969. The Mildred you meet today is most often in her 70s or 80s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Mildred deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Mildred truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Mildred fits with your family’s names and surname.
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